Clarity Child Guidance Center has been awarded $126,745 by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to expand access to mental health care for children in San Antonio.

The funds come via the DeRossette Thomas Fund, established by The University of Texas Board of Regents in 1957 with a gift from DeRossette Thomas' estate. The initial award of $94,745 will be followed by distributions of $8,000 per year through 2018.

The grant will be used to support the acquisition and development of property to house a new behavioral health clinic for children in San Antonio. Construction and property development will soon be underway. The subsequent distributions of $8,000 per year will help to make services available for children who are uninsured or underinsured.

"The DeRossette Thomas Fund is unique in that proceeds from the fund can only be used for mental health services for children at Clarity Child Guidance Center," said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation. "It's a special relationship with an organization that has a history of being a torchbearer for children's mental health."

Clarity, created in 2010 through the merger of Child Guidance Center of San Antonio and Southwest Mental Health Center, provides inpatient and outpatient mental health services to children aged 3 to 17 in San Antonio and South Texas. It is the only nonprofit mental health treatment center in South Texas dedicated to this age group.

Eighty percent of Clarity's patients are impoverished, coming from households that earn income that is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.

"The new clinic we are building will provide greater accessibility to mental health care for uninsured and underinsured kids outside of our Medical Center locations," said Fred Hines, president and CEO of Clarity Child Guidance Center. "The DeRossette Thomas Fund will help expand access to mental health services for children in this community."

The Hogg Foundation advances recovery and wellness in Texas by funding mental health services, policy analysis, research and public education. The foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Gov. James S. Hogg, and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.